Panic took over, but before I could free my arm he slammed me into the icy waterfall; the speed alone took my breath away.
“May Awo forgive me.” He whispered the strange words with such intensity that I tried to issue one of my own quick prayers.
No such luck. I didn’t even have time to scream before I was swallowed whole by darkness so thick, that it felt like my head was going to explode from the pressure.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even think.
It’s hard to explain what happened next. I wouldn’t have believed it myself if someone had told me such a story. Nevertheless, it was happening to me. In a split second my life changed forever.
The thick pulsing darkness slowly released its powerful grip until all I was left with was the water surrounding me. A beautiful blue-green curtain of water.
Someone pulled me out of the falls just as I began to swallow water. Coughing it out my lungs, I fought the sick drowning feeling.
“It takes a few times before you get used to shifting. I do apologize. I should have warned you, but you gave me no choice back there.” Ryan’s voice made me snap back to reality. Reality?
The bright sunlight made me squint at first, but then my eyes grew wide. What I saw shocked the hell out of me. If I was stunned the first time I saw Ryan, this new vision was an even bigger surprise. His hair was raven black now, and his eyes had turned to a deep, shining violet. He had amethysts for eyes, and was no longer a teenager. The vision who stood before me was all man - a man who took the breath from my lungs.
I couldn’t stop staring. I shook my head hard. No matter how good he looked I never wanted to see him again. I had to remind myself how he’d led me on…how he’d practically kidnapped me.
“You’ve changed. Your voice… it’s… I’ve heard…” I tried to make sense of what was happening to me.
The familiar lazy smile began to creep up at the side of his perfectly formed mouth, making me all the more furious with myself. I had to stop noticing these things!
“I have changed slightly,” his deep voice practically purred. “We have to blend in when we are on Earth, but here on Vaalbara we lose our masks and show our true selves. I am not the only one who was altered my appearance. Go ahead…look into the water.”
I stared into the pool and saw the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen staring back at me. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear. She had straight black hair with silver streaks hanging down her back. The well of emotions in her sparkling emerald eyes made her look vulnerable. I lifted my hand to my face and the girl in the water did the same. My breath caught when my fingers glided over the perfect pearl-colored skin. It was all too much for my system to absorb. I couldn’t stop the full blown panic attack rising inside of me. I looked at Ryan; tears of anger stung my eyes and blurred his image.
“Raighne! You are…back.” The man's words faded when he saw me. “Your Highness. Peace be.” Bowing his head in respect, an older man appeared beside the first.
They both had thick brown hair and possessed the same violet eyes as Ryan. I looked from Ryan to them, and then back again.
Ryan’s face softened, as he took me by the shoulders. “Breathe, Alchera. Just breathe.”
His handsome face started to fade as little sparkles danced in front of my eyes. I never thought there would come a day I would actually faint. But today was certainly a day for firsts.
~*~
Soft voices broke through the fog in my mind. They were whispering to one another, as if being careful not to wake me. I opened one eye first hoping that would soften the blow of what I was about to see.
I was in a small room lying on a single bed. There was a whole row of identical beds against the wall and a trolley littered with cotton wads, bandages, and other medical supplies standing in the far corner. Shelves lined the walls stocked with hundreds of small brown bottles on them, although I couldn’t make out the names
I was in a clinic. It smelled clean. Not like a hospital, just clean. There was an elderly man and woman not far from where I lay, and the woman held a small vile in her hand. It looked different from those on the shelves. This one was clear with a small base. It sparkled like something out of a fairytale.
The longer I stared at the elderly couple, the more familiar they became.
The woman turned around first, but froze when she saw me looking at them. She was blonde with blue eyes - wise, loving eyes. I knew those eyes.
“Ima?” My voice was a hoarse whisper. Clearing my throat, I tried to speak the words that came most naturally to me, again.
“Ima? Abba?” They approached me slowly; their faces remained masks of calm and serenity.
“Child, you are awake. How do you feel?” Alder, the High Priest of Vaalbara, took my hand and squeezed it softly, while Aster, the Head Priestess, came around the bed and stood on my right.
“I’m feeling okay. My mind feels…like a veil is being lifted. I—”
Aster raised her hand. “That is delightful to hear. The potion’s effects will be wearing off soon. We need you to think hard, child. Try and remember.”
I closed my eyes and fought through the black veil to see the pictures locked in my memory. I remembered being brought to Aster as a child. I remembered it in flashes at first, like watching one of those old home videos. It was my thirteenth birthday. She had given me something to drink. I inhaled sharply as the floodgates opened up. I remembered. I had a family - father, mother, Alder and Aster. I remembered a much younger and happier me.
And that day…the day it all changed.
I woke up at my waterfall, the clairvoyant was there and I was placed with the Marks family. I remembered the torturous years of school - the loneliness. Ryan. Ryan came and befriended me. My first and only real friend. A sudden blow of grief hit me. I moved it aside as best I could so I could try and concentrate on more of my memories, but there was nothing now…only the sadness of my lost friendship.
“Ryan…?” I shook my head as if it could clear the last of the fog from my mind.
“Raighne is his birth name. But, yes, you know him as Ryan. Nice little switch we did there. He-he.” For some reason Alder found that funny, until Aster slapped his arm and shot him a stern look. He then realized he was the only one laughing, and quickly continued, “He went to fetch you, child. You are home now. Do you remember anything from before we sent you to Earth?” Alder bent over me, anxiously waiting for my reply.
“I only remember a little of my family…and you and Aster. I remember it was my birthday when I was brought to you. But why did I not have my memory when I woke up on Earth? Why was I sent there in the first place?” Tears formed as I once again felt the feelings I had on Earth. The hopelessness; the feeling of being all alone and not belonging; the absolute hatred I felt for the townspeople for shunning me, and for never allowing me to be one of them. Then there was the constant craving for something deep in my soul, something I could never find. I remembered feeling hunted, as if something was always following me in the shadows.
“We had to do that, child. You needed to live as one of them in order for you to understand them. The humans, that is. It was spoken so by Awo. Do not dwell on the feelings. They will fade now that you are home.”
“You mean to tell me I’ll become someone else now? I will just forget everything that’s ever happened?”
They looked at me in silence.
I continued, “Do you mean to tell me that who I am right here, right now was some damn experiment? For whose gain? This isn’t home to me. Nowhere will ever be home to me thanks to you.” I felt bad for being so harsh, but I was tired of being left in the dark and not knowing anything.
Aster took my hand and smiled gently. “You have all the right in the world to be angry. You take all the time you need to adjust to your new surroundings, my child.”
“My parents! Where are they?” There was a small spark of excitement in my voice. I wanted to see them so desperately. I wanted
to be held by people who were supposed to be my own.
“They are well. They are also awaiting your return with great excitement.” Alder’s face fell as he looked to Aster for help.
“You can only see them after you have completed your…destiny.” Her voice was soft, but her eyes cautious.
“What destiny?” I could feel my stomach knotting up again while I tried to deal, as always, with the disappointment of absent parents.
“You have to learn how to be a warrior first, Alchera. You need to be able to protect yourself and The Chosen Ten when you go to fetch them. There is only time for you to be trained now.”
“I have to learn how to be a warrior? Are you talking, Conan the Barbarian?”
Their eyes remained blank.
I sighed. “Don’t get a lot of T.V. or movies here, I see.” I tried my best to get my point across. “I can’t even walk in a straight line without falling over my own two feet! A warrior is a little out there for me as a career path.” I started thinking this was just another bad dream and Molly would be waking me up soon.
“That was while you were on Earth, dear. That was all part of the potion we gave you to mask your appearance to the humans. Here you are stronger and faster, and your wisdom will slowly return. You are no ordinary, fragile human anymore. You need to practice your strengths and talents so you can perfect them.” I tried to sit up but the dizziness overwhelmed me.
“I sure don’t feel strong.”
“It is only the effects of the potion still wearing off. All will be well tomorrow. But today you need to rest.” Alder pat me on my shoulder as he turned away.
Aster cleared her throat. “We have to leave you now.” She placed a finger on my lips before I could interrupt her. “You will not be alone. Your sisters are anxious to meet you, and Raighne and his brothers are also here. We will come back for you in six weeks when your training and schooling is completed. There are so many others waiting to meet you. Your life will soon be full.” I wasn’t sure if she meant the last bit as a prophecy, or as a way to placate my fears.
Walking to Alder’s side, she offered me a faint smile before fading away right before my eyes.
The last thing I heard was Alder’s slightly confused voice as he vanished from sight, “Who is Conan the Barbarian?”
~*~
I was alone - again - in a place called Vaalbara, and I got here by shifting trough a waterfall. There were such things as potions. Ryan’s name was actually Raighne. Oh, yeah, people could just up and disappear whenever they felt like it.
Have I covered everything, Sid?
I began to cry like a baby. All the shocking events had finally caught up with me and I was, after all, only human.
“Alchera?” Ryan, or should I say Raighne, strode into the room. He walked to my bed with that confident swagger that he’d used the first time we met. But it also reminded me of something else. That dream I had; the one where I was swimming in the pool and the man approached, although every time just before I could make out his features I would wake up.
“It wasn’t a dream! It was me seeing you coming!” My tears were forgotten.
“What?” Ryan took my hand as he sat down beside me on the bed, letting a comforting warmth spread up my arm.
“I saw you coming and all along I thought it was just a stupid dream.”
“Your visions started earlier than we thought they would. I would have come for you sooner had we known that.”
“We? Visions? Who are the ‘we’ you keep referring to?”
“Your father, King Eryon, and your mother, Queen Azalea.” He took a deep breath. “Your parents and my father Eamar named me to be your guardian. I was instructed to retrieve you from Earth, and bring you back safely.”
“Get away from me.” I yanked my hand from his. “You lied to me!” Getting up from the bed, I forced my unstable legs to move.” You lied to me, Ryan. Oh wait, hold on a sec, that’s not even your real name!” My voice quivered from the tears I tried to hold back.
“Raighne!” I spat his name at him. “You couldn’t even be honest about your name. Everything about you was a lie! I suppose that means you being my friend was also a lie? I have to admit, you’re a bloody good actor. You had me fooled.” Tears were rolling down my cheeks, thinking about the night we had spent together and the way he’d kissed me. How could that have been a lie?
He stood before me. His anger matched mine. “Do not say or think that! I have never lied to you about my friendship or any of my feelings for you. I understand you are angry with me, but it will pass.”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” The longer he stood there looking at me the angrier I became. “Get away from me.”
He shook his head. “I am sorry, but I cannot leave your side. You are going to have to deal with your anger somehow, even if it means beating me up.” I could see he wanted to reach out for me, but to his credit he held himself back.
“I know you are very upset and confused right now,” he continued. “But you have to put this aside, as there is someone you have to meet. Your sisters are right outside.”
I took a step away from the door and rubbed my tired eyes. “What do you mean…sisters? I know no one here. I’m not ready to meet anyone.” Looking at him, I took a deep breath to try and calm myself.
“Do you know how it feels to have your world ripped out from underneath you? Do you?” My voice rose as emotion took over my better judgment. “I don’t know what’s real anymore.” I couldn’t stop the tears as they started up again. I wiped angrily at them, feeling embarrassed for crying in front of him for what felt like the hundredth time.
“All will be well.” His arms folded around me, hugging me to his chest. And as much as I wanted to deny it, his touch made me feel better. I felt his warmth spreading through me, and it felt nice. I didn’t want it, but I needed it. His hand was gently rubbing my back and all I could do was close my eyes, rest my very confused head against his chest, and breathe him in.
“You got bigger.” It was something to say, something to take my mind off the situation I found myself in and what was still waiting for me outside this small, safe room.
“Actually, no. You are smaller.” I could hear the old teasing note in his voice. “You are not alone in this. I am here for you. I will help you through the change and the training.”
I didn’t know how long we stood like that, but when I heard a female voice from the door, I pushed him away from me so fast I almost lost my balance.
“Alchera, am I disturbing your rest? I could return later.” Her voice was soft and soothing, and the first thing I noticed was the golden glow that hugged her frame. She was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen.
She had light yellow hair which suited her smooth, fair skin and she moved with so much grace she seemed to be gliding. There were golden lights that seemed to cloak her; they were like fireflies playing around her form with every step she took. I all but stared at her, my mouth hanging open. It felt like I was looking at some mystical creature.
“You are not intruding, your Highness,” Raighne bowed. “I will leave you alone.”
I reached out and grabbed his arm. There was no way in hell he was leaving my side. My eyes pleaded with him to stay with me. I felt silly for hanging on, especially after fighting with him, but there was really no way I was going to face this woman alone. I whispered, “You’re all I know.”
Raighne nodded his understanding and moved closer, taking a place beside me.
The beauty simply smiled. “Peace be, Alchera. I am your sister, Elora. “Alandra and I have been waiting for your arrival with great excitement.” Reaching in, she hugged me to her. She smelled like a hot summer’s day, and blossoms in the spring. I picked up a hint of honey - light and sweet. She was so unbelievably soft to the touch; I was scared I’d harm her, so I hugged her back lightly with my one free arm.
“Welcome home, my sister. May Awo’s blessings be upon you.” She held me at arm’s length, as
if inspecting me. “You are more beautiful than I remember, and so grown up. It is such a misfortune we could not celebrate your eighteenth birthday with you today.” She looked at me with so much love I could barely breathe.
“You are my sister? But you’re so…stunning.” She laughed at my description. It sounded like chimes in the wind. I was so awe-struck by the fact that she was my sister I all but missed the part about my birthday.
“You are so delightful. It is only normal for you not to remember a great deal of us. You were so young when you were taken.”
“Why didn’t they send you away? Why only me?” I was hoping someone would give me a straight answer for once. Maybe that someone would be her.
“We are not so much a threat to Adeth as you are, but that is not the answer you seek. Awo gave you the blessing of visions, of the dreams and hope for mankind.”
She looked at me through honey-golden eyes now filled with sorrow. It confused me. If they were blessings, why did she look so sad?
“Unfortunately, only you can perform the task that is at hand. The hope of the human race lies in your hands, my sister.” I didn’t like the sound of that. My day seemed to be getting worse.
“What do you mean?” Raighne rubbed my hand with his thumb, reminding me he was still there.
“You had to go to Earth to live as one of them,” Elora began. “You had to feel how they felt, to learn their ways. You needed to be tempted, as they are tempted, by human sins in order to feel compassion for them. You needed this so you would be able to understand The Chosen Ones when the time came to retrieve them.” Elora moved away, leaving golden streaks of light trailing in her wake.
“What do you mean…‘retrieve The Chosen Ones?’” I moved closer to Raighne without noticing, needing to draw on his strength and warmth.
Elora sighed. “It is the end of the world as we know it, Alchera. Armageddon is here, as it is written in so many scriptures. All living species will come to an end except for the ones we bring to Vaalbara – the new Earth. You need to go and collect The Chosen Ten. You can only return to Vaalbara when you have all of them. The ten you save will be the only hope for continuing the human race.”
Vaalbara; Visions & Shadows Page 7